Steam generator



United States Patent 2,570,745 6/1950 Arnold......................... 141/118 [72] lnventor William A. Omohundro Westport, Conn.

FOREIGN PATENTS 7 r H 9 m 2 n m m Wh Rw m 0 yea e f u d F Wn v oe tl n a m m mrW C e um mF G n .P .h J co m m 9 THEN, 11 enr m lwl n m T RULES 2 w p wn a 7 n m H m nwL 1 rs P-AA v. nm 80 Y w N cf 8 60mm 97- 1 Ea 4 flm v -zoo m. 0. mawmm 7ODG8 0. de mm wmm p as AFPA 1.11] 253 2247 [1:11.

Oscar B. Waddell and Melvin M. Goldenberg [54] STEAM GENERATOR 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

132/7 F22b l/28,

ABSTRACT: The disclosure herein concerns a self-contained steam generator including a water tank, electric heating unit sa/Z4 1 and a spout that both expels steam from the water tank and 284-;141/118, 119, 319-322; 73/426; 222/64,

[50] Field receives water for introduction into the water tank. The steam generator is constructed such that a predetermined amount of water is automatically retained in the water tank portion of the spout extend into the water tank by having a and spaced from the walls of the water tank a distance sufficient to permit retention of the predetermined amount of water within the water tank after filling the water tank and then inverting the steam generator.

QM 2 er PATENTEB DEB 8 B7B SHEET 1 BF 2 tor: A. Omohundro.

Inven William Attorney PATENTEUBEI: ems 3546428 SHEET 2 OF 2 II/V LI/I I I STEAM GENERATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to steam generators and in particular to self-contained steam generators that may be used in conjunction with hair treating apparatus or used separately in a hand-held manner for applying water vapor to a persons hair.

By,subjecting hair to heat or water vapor and preferably both, the cortex or hard outside layer of the hair is softened, and, if allowed to dry in a curled condition, the hair will be set or curled. Apparatus normally used to apply water vapor or steam to the hair is a steam generator, and it usually consists of a water tank or boiler and a heat source to convert water to steam with some arrangement for directing the expelled steam onto the hair. Such steam generators are either hand held as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,82,360 and 1,907,871 or incorporated into a hair treating apparatus as a permanent structural element as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,004,540.

Heretofore, steam generators incorporated in hair treating apparatus, such as hair dryers, lacked versatility in that they were not designed to be used in a hand-held manner should the user wish to do so. On the other hand, steam generators that could be used separately in a hand-held manner were not readily usable in conjunction with hair treating apparatus. The present invention relates to the steam generator while the use of the steam generator in conjunction with a hair dryer, is described and claimed in copending Omohundro Pat. application Ser. No. 764,747, filed Oct. 3, 1968, entitled Hair Dryer Apparatus, and assignedto the same assignee as the present application. 1

Applying steam to a person's hair by the use of prior handheld steam generators has several drawbacks. One drawback is that it is difficult for the user to know what amount of water should be put into the steam generator to supply enough steam to the hair to give satisfactory hair setting results in a reasonably short period of time. If too much water is put into the steam generator, more time is taken to convert the water to steam and more than enough steam is usually applied to the hair. This, of course, results in a considerable amount of time added to the period it takes to perform the hair setting treatment. On the other hand, -if too little water is put into the steam generator, there is an insufficient amount of steam applied to the hair which results in a poor hair setting treatment.

Even if the user did have some knowledge of approximately how much water was needed to produce the right amount of steam to give the hair a satisfactory hair setting treatment, a considerable degree of care is needed to visually measure the correct amount of water. In many instances, separate measuring implements are needed which in itself is troublesome, I

especially when they become mislaid or lost.

Another drawback of prior hand-held steam generators is their propensity for injuring the user because they are necessarily quite hot. This drawback is particularly troublesome when steam generators are used in the area about the face, such as when steam is applied to the hair. By my invention, a steam generator is provided that may be used in conjunction with a hair dryer or used separately in a hand-held manner and which may have water added directly into it with a predetermined proper amount of water automatically measured that will produce enough steam .to give satisfactory hair setting results in a reasonably short period of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, there is provided a steam generator that may be used in conjunction with a hair dryer or separately in hand-held manner. The steam generator is selfcontained in that within the body casing there is housed a water tank and an electric'heating unit for furnishing sufficient heat to convert the water in the water tank to steam. The steam generator body casing is insulated from the internal heat so that the user may grip the steam generator comfortably in a hand-held manner and without being injured even while steam is'being generated. The steam generator has a spout which extends outwardly from the water tank through which steam escapes from the water tank and which also serves as a means for introducing water into the water tank. The spout has a configuration that will support the steam generator on the air duct of a hair dryer in the manner described in copending Omohundro Pat. application Ser. No. 764,747, filed Oct. 3, 1968 referred to above. The spout has an inner portion extending into the water tank and spaced from the walls of the water tank a distance sufficient to permit retention of a predetermined amount of water within the tank after filling the tank with water while the steam generator is in an upright position and then inverting or completely turning the steam generator .upside down to pour out any excess water. Because the inner spout portion extends into the water tank a distance and is spaced from'the walls of the water tank, there is an amount of water retained in the water tank whose level does not rise above the end of the innerspout portion and therefore cannot be poured out of the water tank no matter what axis the steam generator is rotated about.

It is an object of this invention to provide a steam generator that houses both the water tank and heating unit, which selfcontained steam generator may be used in conjunction with a hair dryer or separately in a hand-held manner.

It is another object of this invention to provide a self-contained steam generator that automatically measures a predetermined amount of water to be retained in the water tank.

It is another object of thisinvention to provide a self-contained steam generator that the user may comfortably hold in the hand and which has a common filling and steam exit spout adapted to permit retention of a predetermined amount of water within the tank which 'water when converted to steam and applied to hair will set the hair satisfactorily in a reasonably short period of time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my steam generator.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of my steam generator in an upright position.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of my steam generator in an inverted position showing a predetermined amount of water retained therein.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a safety extension for use in connection with my steam generator.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the safety extension of FIG. 5

attached to the steam generator ready for hand-held use.

DESCRIPTION OF THEPREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates my steam generator which includes a body casing 10, a base assembly 11, and a spout 12. Shown also is an electric cord set 13 leading to the base assembly for supplying electric current to the steam generator as will be explained later.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show in detail the structural configuration of the steam generator. The body casing 10 has a base portion 14 attached thereto as by screws. The base portion 14 encloses the base assembly 11 which includes an electric thermostat assembly 15 and a base spring retainer 21. The base portion 14 has a receptacle recess 22 for receiving and retaining a cord set plug attachment for supplying electric current to the steam generator. Electric lead in prongs 16 extend through the wall of the receptacle recess 22. The body casing 10 has a sidewall portion 26 which has housed within it a cup-shaped boiler or water tank 17 that has a cylindrical side wall and a base 23 which has imbedded therein a heating unit 18, such as a coiled Calrod heating unit. The water tank 17 is preferably made of a heat conductive material, such as aluminum, so that heat may be'readily conducted from the imbedded heating unit .18 to the water retained within the tank to facilitate converting the water to steam in an efficient and rapid manner. The body casing 10 should be insulated from the heat generated by the heating unit and steam so that the user can grip the steam generator comfortably in a hand-held manner to manipulate it as desired. While there are numerous ways to insulate the body casing from the water tank 17, I have found one particularly efficient way is by providing an airspace between the water tank and the body casing substantially around the entire water tank. Providing this airspace is accomplished in the following manner.

The open end of the water tank 17 and the body casing 10 are sealingly secured to each other by an elastomeric channeled ring gasket 31 that fits over the lip 32 of the open end of the water tank 17 and is seated in a complementary circular channel 33 molded or otherwise formed in the transverse end wall 40 of the body casing 10. By so securing the water tank 17 and body casing 10 to each other, they are maintained from each other in a spaced relationship and water and steam are prevented from entering the airspace 20 between them. The base 23 of the water tank is also maintained in a spaced relationship from the base portion 14 of the body casing 10 by means of a screw 24 attached to the center of the base 23 and passing through the base spring retainer 21 and the thermostat assembly 15. The base spring clip retainer is seated in a cen trally disposed recess 25 in the base portion 14. By this structural arrangement, proper alignment of the steam generator components during assembly is easy and the spaced relationship between the water tank and the body casing 10 is achieved to provide the insulating air space. It should be noted that advantageously the body case casing 10 can be molded from suitable plastic material which in itself has some insulating qualities, however, other suitable materials may be used.

To aid in gripping the body casing, corrugations in the form of elongated ribs (FIG. .4) may be provided such as by molding when the casing 10 is made from plastic. In addition, this corrugation provides less surface area in contact with the hand and also airspaces between the ribs which increases the insulating qualities of the steamgenerator casing.

junction between the spout and the sidewall portion 26 of the body casing 10. When the steam generator is used in conjunction with a hair dryer, the boss 36 and steplike projection 38 "interlockingly engage the air duct of the hair dryer to secure the steam generator thereto, as described in my copending Pat. application Ser. No. 764,747, filed Oct. 3, 1968 referred to above.

The longitudinal axis of the spout 12, designed a in FIG. 2, forms an angle X of from 25 to 45 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body of the steam generator designated b. The primary reason for this spout angle is to facilitate use of the steam generator in conjunction with the hair dryer. Generally,

it provided to direct the expelled steam upwardly toward the hood of the hair dryer for efficient distribution of the steam to theusers hair.

The inner portion 39 of the spout 12 extends into the cylindrical water tank 17 passing through the center of the trans- I verse end wall 40 of the body casing 10. The longitudinal axis of the inner spout portion 39 and the central longitudinal axis b "of the body of the steam generator will normally substantial ly coincide. Both axes pass through or nearly through the center of the water tank. The distance from the transverse end wall 40 to the lip 42 of the inner spout portion 39 and the distance from the inner spout portion 39 to the surrounding water tank wall should be such that the volume of the space therein equals the desired amount of water to be converted into steam for the hair setting treatment.

The operation by which the user automatically obtains the desired predetermined amount of water in the water tank by having a steam generator of this configuration is as follows: When the steam generator is in its nonnal upright position as shown in a FIG. 2, the user introduces water, as from a faucet, into the outer end 35 of the spout until the water tank is indicated as full by the water overflowing from the spout. The amount of water actually contained in the water tank after it is filled in this manner will vary depending upon the amount of air trapped within the water tank during the filling operation. This does not matter, however, as long as the initial amount of water in the water tank is at least as much as the desired predetermined amount of water to be retained. The amount of water in the tank after filling would typically be that shown in FIG. 2. Although not necessary, the end of the inner portion of the spout may terminate on a diagonal, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. This ensures against any water lock forming in the spout during the water filling operation. After the water tank is filled, the steam generator is inverted or completely turned upside down to the position shown in FIG. 3. In this latter position, any water in excess of the amount or volume of water held in the water tank between the transverse end wall 40 and the lip 42 of the inner spout portion 39 will pour back out of the water tank. The predetermined amount of water retained or trapped in the water tank is shown in FIG. 3.

The water tank and inner spout portions are desirably constructed so that no matter what axis the steam generator is rotated about there is enough space between the lip of the inner spout portion and the walls of the water tank toaccommodate the amount of water retained in the water tank without any of it pouring or spilling out of the spout.

Preferably, the water tank and inner spout portion should also be constructed so tat that even if the steam generator is not completely turned upside down as shown in FIG. 3 but only turned on its side with the spout pointed downwardly, that the water retained in the water tank'will still equal'the desired predetermined amount.

It has been determined that if 28 to 35 cubic centimeters of water is converted to steam and that steam applied to a persons hair at a temperature of to F., which is a comfortable and normally safe steam temperature for treating the hair, that hair can be well set in a reasonably short period of time. The water tank and inner spout portion should, therefore, be constructed so that the amount of water retained in the water tank is between 28 and 35 cubic centimeters. Under the above-mentioned hair treating conditions, I have found that 30 cubic centimeters of water produces very good results for setting hair.

It should be noted that another advantage of my steam generator is that by filling the water tank in the manner described above, a certain amount of mineral deposits and other materials detrimental to the steam generating operation, such as foam inducing materials, that may be present in the water tank will be purged every time the steam generator is used because of the rinsing action inherent in the filling procedure.

After the water measuring procedure has been completed to obtain the correct predetermined amount and the steam generator is ready for use, the cord set is plugged into the receptacle recess 22 in the base portion 14 to supply electric current through the thermostat assembly 15 to the heating unit 18 imbedded in the base 23 of the water tank l7. The thermostat assembly 15 operates in the usual fashion and is not discussed in detail as it is not considered to be part of this invention. That is, electric current is permitted to flow to the heating unit 18 as log long as the temperature around the base of the water tank does not rise above a predetermined and preset thermostat temperature. The thermostat 15 would normally be set at a temperature slightly above 212 F., the boiling point of water. In this way, when the steam generator is v Shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is a safety extension 50 that may be attached to the outer end 35 of the spout 12 when the steam generator is used separately and not in Conjunction with ahair dryer. The purpose of the safety extension 50 is to prevent the user from being injured by the expelled steam should the steam generator be used in a careless manner. The structure of the safety extension is such that it increases the velocity of the steam being expelled from the steam generator spout and it permits the expelled steam, which is at a temperature of about 212 F to mix with the surrounding ambient air to lower the temperature of the steam of to a safe usable level. To accomplish this, the extension is provided with relatively large openings in the body thereof by having a multiplicity of spaced rectangular ribs 52 supported on side support members 53. The mouth 56 of the extension is adapted for insertion into the steam generator spout and has guide members 51 to aid in correctly attaching the extensions to the spout. The mouth 56 has an aperture 54 through which the steam passes from the water tank to the atmosphere. A soft sealing gasket 55 surrounds the extension mouth 56 so that when the extension is inserted into the spout, steam can only be expelled from the water when tank through the aperture 54. With the diameter of the aperture 54 being smaller than the spout diameter, the velocity of the expelled steam increases due to the increased steam pressure within the steam generator. By providing a cavity 57 in the extension mouth 56 that substantially-coincides with the cutaway portion 34 in the outer end of the spout, the atmospheric air is afforded access to the steam as it is being expelled from the aperture 54 and some turbulence is caused as the air is entrained along with the expelled steam. By the time the steam reaches the outer end of the extension, the turbulent mixing action of the ambient air and expelled steam reduces the temperature of the steam to a level low enough to prevent injury to the user should the steam be carelessly directed to an exposed body surface. The mouth 56 of .the extension has a proturberance 58 that extends inwardly of the spout and serves as a point for collecting any condensate which might otherwise form in the aperture 54 and prevent free passage of the steam.

The foregoing is a description of the preferred embodiment, of the invention and variations may be made to the apparatus without departing from the spirit of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A steam generator that may be used in conjunction with a hair dryer or separately in a hand-held manner comprising, a body casing end enclosing a water tank and an electric heating unit; and a spout for both expelling steam from the water tank and receiving water for introduction into the water tank; said spout having an outer end portion projecting outwardly from said water tank, and an inner end portion extending into the water tank and spaced from the walls of the water tank a distance sufficient to permit retention of a predetermined amount of water within the water tank, the spacing of a said inner end portion from the walls of said water tank being such that said predetermined amount of water is substantially retained no matter about what axis the steam generator is rotated.

2. The steam generator of claim 1 wherein the predetermined amount of water is in the range of 28 to 35 cubic centimeters.

3. The steam generator of claim I wherein insulation is included to permit said steam generator to be comfortably handheld.

4. The steam generator of claim 3 wherein said insulation comprises means defining an air space between the water tank and the body casing.

5. A steam generator that may be used in conjunction with a hair dryer or separately in a hand-held manner comprising:

a body casing enclosing a water tank and an electric heating unit;

a spout for both expelling steam from the water tank and receiving water for introduction into the water tank; said spout having an outer end portion pro ecting outwardly from said water tank, and an inner end portion extending into the water tank and spaced from the walls of the water tank a distance sufficient to permit retention of a predetermined amount of water within the water tank after filling the water tank with water and then inverting the steam generator, and

an extension attached to the outer end portion of the spout, said extension having an opening at the attaching end thereof smaller than the opening in the outer end of the spout through which steam from the water tank is expelled.

6. A steam generator that may be used in conjunction with a hair dryer or separately in a hand-held manner comprising, a body casing enclosing a water tank and an electric heating unit; and a spout for both expelling steam from the water tank and receiving water for introduction into the water tank, said spout having an outer end portion projecting outwardly from said water tank adapted to receive water from a faucet by having a cutaway portion in the upper wall at the terminus of said outer end portion, and an inner end portion extending into the water tank and spaced from the walls of the water tank a distance sufiicient to permit retention of a predetermined amount of water within the water tank after filling the water tank with water and then inverting the steam generator.

7. The steam generator of claim 6, including an extension attached to the outer end portion of the spout, said extension having an opening at the attaching end thereof smaller than the opening in the outer end of the spout through which steam from the water tank is expelled and a cavity that substantially coincides with said cutaway portion in the upper wall of said outer end portion that provides access for the ambient air to mix with the expelled steam. 

